Halter raises $165m, company valued at $1.65b
New Zealand tech company Halter has raised $165 million from investors in its latest fundraising round.
Fonterra is closing a milk powder blending and packaging site in Hamilton, a move that will affect 120 jobs.
The co-operative says the closure of the Canpac site follows its decision to focus on higher value ingredients such as advanced proteins and medical nutrition.
The plant currently packs up to 4,000 metric ton of powders per year, less than 1% of the co-op's total product volume.
Fonterra's chief operating officer Anna Palairet says the co-op is committed to supporting the impacted employees.
The co-op is working through a consultation process, including exploring potential redeployment opportunities before operations are planned to come to an end on July 31.
Palairet says low product volumes and increasing complexities in production has created challenging economic conditions for the facility.
"It's been a tough day for all the team at the site. Making decisions like this is never easy.
"Our strategy is about creating end-to-end value and growing total returns for our farmer shareholders.
"We believe the best way to achieve this is to focus on our strengths and scale in ingredients and foodservice, and we are prioritising our investment on the parts of our operations that are better suited to this."
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
A leading financial and banking advisor says he doubts if most dairy farmers fully understand the dynamics of banking.
Dairy farmers are shoring up their balance sheets, with almost $1.7 billion of debt repaid in the six months to March 2025.
Virtual fencing company Halter is going global but for founder Craig Piggott, New Zealand farmers will always remain their main partners.
A former Fonterra executive is the new chair of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ).
New Federated Farmers national dairy chair Karl Dean is looking forward to tackling the issues facing the sector.
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